The Mechanic [BL]

[69]

Chapter 69 The Antidote to Human Nature (7)

Zhang Xun took a bag of mouse food and quietly went down the escape stairs to the third underground floor.

It was mostly used to store used equipment parts and few people came down here. The air smelled damp and musty and all the rusted instruments were covered with thick dust. There were intricate, metal, drainage pipes hanging overhead and sometimes there was an uproar of water rushing past.

This was also the only place where Pan's cameras weren't installed.

When approaching the area where he kept the mice, Zhang Xun tip toed, hid behind some stacked tin boxes and peeped secretly through a gap between the boxes.

Three days ago, he accidentally discovered that the mice were aware of the presence of observers and would behave differently than usual when being watched. At that time, he left after giving water and food to the mice, but found that he had left his microscopic mirror in the basement. When he went back to get it, he found that the mice were behaving strangely.

Some of the larger white mice were at the bottom, with layers upon layers of mice on top. They were building a white, wriggling "pyramid", trying to touch the lid of the tank.

They were cooperating and trying to escape.

But as soon as Zhang Xun appeared, they dispersed immediately and returned to their motionless, dull eyes.

Mice were very smart, but weren't smart enough to carry out such highly cooperative behaviours...

Zhang Xun installed a pinhole camera in a place where the mice couldn't see it, so at any time he could monitor these animals that were obviously undergoing some kind of mutation. It wasn't obvious on the outside, but after Zhang Xun covertly sent one to the Department of Life Sciences for dissection, the results shocked him.

The mouse's brain seemed to have an unprecedented growth phenomenon, but it wasn't like a normal brain tumour. The proliferating tissue was in good condition and could communicate effectively with the rest of the brain.

Zhang Xun looked at the brain slice displayed on the screen and shuddered.

The nanobots had been manufactured under his own supervision, but most of the relevant knowledge and data had come from Adam, who was involved throughout the manufacturing process. Apart from himself, who was most likely to do something with the nanobots without him noticing, he didn't really need to think about it.

He just wasn't sure whether such "side effects" were intentional or unintentional. The proliferative tissue had clearly had an effect on the behaviour of the mice, but the question was, what was the significance of this effect? The human brain was much more complex, was it immune to such "side effects"? After all, some advanced hospitals in the ordinary world had begun using nanobots. If there was a problem, it should have already manifested, right?

Or, was it precisely because nanobots were being used in the most advanced hospitals to treat diseases important people, so even if there were side effects, the news would be controlled and blocked.

Zhang Xun didn't tell the professor who did the dissection for him. He returned to the Lab as usual and accepted Adam's kiss on his lips as usual. When the two were having dinner together, Adam showed Zhang Xun a video of Alloy fighting with a mechanic's pet dog and Zhang Xun smiled appropriately.

Adam suddenly turned his head slightly to look at him, "By the way, where have you been today? I couldn't find you anywhere."

Zhang Xun said, "James asked me to go and watch his fighting match."